El Chapulín
Our home away from home for the foreseeable future: a 2000 Toyota 4Runner we've named "El Chapulín" (which means grasshopper in Spanish, and was a popular Latin American TV show). We bought it with 183,000 miles in good but completely stock condition. Over the course of two months and a lot of research, it underwent some significant changes.
Thanks to Brian and his team at American Offroad for installing these modifications that will help us go the distance (and come back):
- Front and rear suspension (Toytec)
- Uniball upper control arms (Total Chaos
- Full undercarriage skid plates (Shrockworks)
- Front bumper (Shrockworks)
- Swing-out rear bumper with tire carrier, jerrycan mount, fold-down table and LED camp light (CBI Offroad)
- Rock sliders (CBI Offroad)
- All terrain tires (BFG)
- Improved security
And here's how we made the car into our mobile home:
- Auxiliary battery (120 Ah deep cycle AGM)
- Fridge/freezer (ARB)
- Rooftop cargo box (Thule)
- 2 20L fuel jerrycans (Wavien)
- 2 20L water cans (Specter)
- Storage containers that double as a sleeping platform (Rubbermaid)
- Gymnastics mat (GSC)
- Ceiling cargo net for extra storage
- Blackout curtain
After 6 months on the road, we upgraded with the following gear:
- Side awning with mosquito net (ARB)
- 120 W portable solar panel (GoPower!)
- Automatic charging relay for auxiliary battery (BlueSea)